Family Church Portsmouth

As Family Church Portsmouth Congregation began meeting for the first time in its normal venue since before Covid (Portsmouth Academy), Pastor Andy set off by challenging us to correctly establish, understand and believe in our foundations. Quoting Proverbs 22:28 he begins to examine the long ago created and established foundations of our faith. This is 'must listen' material!!

When Jesus saves, he saves completely! Those who accept Jesus are made completely new, washed completely clean, and totally redeemed!

Jesus is totally committed to you! He loves you so much that He laid down His life for you. In every season of life you can know that Jesus will never leave or forsake you.

In our second 'Family Church on the Field' event, Pastor Sean shares passionately that Jesus is the only way to the Father; He is the only truth; and He gives life in abundance to all who come to Him.

In God's Kingdom we are to "lay down our Iives" and serve one another. When every person does "something" we will accomplish everything that God has called us to do. It is a truly fulfilling way to live.

Pastor Andy’s message this week is titled “Where Next”? After

discussing the shape of things to come for both the previously established

congregations (pre Covid) and also the newly established online congregation, he

speaks about the very definition of a Christian or more usefully a Disciple, or

a Believer. Are we called something yet our attributes do not confirm the name

we give ourselves? If we are a follower of Jesus do we properly purpose in our

hearts to follow Him? Do we dedicate in our hearts to follow Jesus in all His

steps, placing our attention in Him? Jesus called people to become followers

and disciples in the Gospels and He does the same today – to have a daily experience

of Him in their world.    Jesus calls us

into a daily relational walk with Him now just as He did in the Gospels. All

Jesus disciples in the gospels had security in what they did and left this and

at some cost started to follow Jesus in a new journey. They did not look back.

They needed to leave their previous security to join Him and follow Him into

something much better. Will we lay down our comforts and put Him first in all

things advancing with Him?

A culture of worship can only come from a people whose hearts are filled with worship. This message will help you understand what true worship is and how you can be a true worshipper, contributing to the church having a culture of worship.

Today is the last in the current series by Pastor Andy Elmes

‘Commissioned’, with this week’s message being about Kingdom Lifestyle. We've

been looking at Matthew 28 verses 19-20. God says go into all the world and

make disciples baptizing them teaching them to obey. People get really carried

away with loving the word grace and love and mercy, but obedience is equally a

powerful word.  Matthew 28, 20 does say “teaching

them to obey everything”….this means, training people to abide, to walk, in

obedience to all that Jesus commanded. 

Jesus taught about Kingdom living, a new higher way of conducting

ourselves. If we look at the teachings of Jesus in the gospels He often says to

his disciples “go and declare the kingdom”. When Jesus walked the Earth, He

didn't preach a gospel of atonement - He was the Gospel of atonement! He spoke

of a kingdom, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven that was present now,

on earth.  In Matthew 5 and 6 Jesus talks

about Kingdom life and how to live it. In this message Jesus suddenly begins to

redefine so much of what people thought was normal, but he brings fresh

definition to it and says, no, that's not how you live. This is how you live to

me. That's what the Lord is asking us to do when he says  “ …teach people to obey my Commandments”, -  the ways that I've taught you to live. He

talks about being Salt and Light and so much more in these two chapters.

Romans 12:2 (NIV) says “Do not conform to the pattern of

this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be

able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.

This is the Holy and best possible way for us to live beyond

anything we ever imagined. In those moments in the battlefield of our minds we

need to make sure the way He's taught us to live overcomes any previous way we

may have lived before. This is when the victory that's contained in the word breaks

into our daily lives.

When Jesus called the fishermen to follow Him, a 'disciple making' movement was started and we are part of that. Along with the first followers of Jesus, we too are called to go and make disciples, baptising them and teaching them about the Kingdom of God. You'll be inspired as you hear about six things that Jesus did in order to make disciples and, as we build these things into our lives, we will become great disciple makers.

Pastor Andy continues his series on Commissioned, this week his title is Walking it Out.  This series has been based on the incredible verses from Matthew 28:19 -20 known as the Great Commission. Andy speaks more about discipleship where we provoke each other to grow and develop a more intimate walk with the Lord than we've ever known before. We hear about each believer having a discipleship role……..being surrendered to someone so we have our own lives challenged and mentored and then also being able to help others as well. This richness gives us strength and daily growth in Christ which we need in order to prevent us stagnating in our relationship with Jesus.  There are two experiences to being a Christian - we can go for a crowd experience or a disciple experience. If we go for a crowd experience, we will watch miracles. However if we go for a disciple experience, we get to handle them!

Andy gives scripture references regarding how Paul speaks to the church in Corinth and elsewhere about still giving the people milk rather than solid food because they had not yet moved from being carnal Christians to spirit led ones. He warns us about not being offended regarding the purpose of the church in our lives – its easy to be led into a false sense of understanding here regarding the culture of Israel during biblical times.

Andy speaks about how we want to help people to navigate their new life, the New Birth, the transformation of God that's happening in their world. So in Family Church, moving forward in regard to those who are be are giving their life to Christ in our services or in our in times when we meet each other, we want to be relational in our discipleship rather than purely educational. Andy gives a lot of details to some of the practical and exciting steps we shall be taking to outwork this vision. Next week is the final part to this series Commissioned.